


The Shadows on My Wall Don't Sleep

by cruciomysoul



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Insomnia, M/M, Pyromania, Rehabilitation, psychiatric hospital
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-11-01
Updated: 2015-03-26
Packaged: 2017-12-30 02:39:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,416
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1013063
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cruciomysoul/pseuds/cruciomysoul
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They keep calling me, beckoning.<br/>Levi curses whatever crappy luck landed him with Eren Jaeger of all people as his first patient. And it must have been real crappy luck indeed, because the kid's not actually as bad as his predecessor from the newly destroyed hospital Maria made him out to be.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. There's Nothing Left To Say Now

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MildlyMoonstruck](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MildlyMoonstruck/gifts).



> Because if you haven't read '[Keep Your Head Up](http://archiveofourown.org/works/971465)', then you really need to sort out your priorities.  
> also this kind of just ran away with me i am sorry

****

The first thing Levi does when he arrives, after dropping his lone suitcase off in room and insisting to Hanji that he was perfectly capable of unpacking by himself, is head to Erwin's quarters.

He doesn't knock, instead just barges the door open with his hip and waltz in like he owns the place, not a single care in the world.

Erwin has his back to him, hands already at work unpacking jumpers and t-shirts and various other items of clothing.

The room is standard, and from what Levi can gather, almost identical to what he had seen inside his own room. They are both incredibly dusty, though Erwin seems to not mind as much he perhaps should.

A double bed situated in the centre; a door leading off to the right that was the bathroom (a single shower unit, sink and toilet encased in a small rectangular room); a large square window that opened outward in two halves, much like the saloon doors of the old west; a desk in the corner with a small one, possibly two, person stool in front. And, finally, obscured from view by Erwin's figure, and right next to the bed, is a chest of drawers for all items of clothing. Seven drawers in total; five long ones that spread the width of the chest, and then two smaller ones that sit side by side and only stretch halfway.

At least, there  _should_   be seven drawers in total. When Erwin's body shifts, leaning to the side so he can grab another shirt from the pile on his bed and fold it neatly into one of the drawers, Levi's eyes zone in cryptically on the space where the two smaller drawers should be.

They're not there.

Instead, it's another long draw that takes up the entire length. And above that drawer is another one identical. Third up from that is the set of short twinned drawers.

"My drawers aren't that high," Levi immediately blurts out- because, really, Erwin has more drawers than him. What.

"I think they're custom made," Erwin responds, somewhat dryly, looking at Levi through the mirror positioned atop the chest of drawers. "You know, to fit our height."

Levi immediately scowls, arms crossing over his chest with a distinct 'humph.'

Erwin smirks, folding the last of his shirts and shutting his drawer.

"You could always go and see Hanji, you know, measure her drawers-"

"I'm not going near Hanji's room." Levi swears vehemently, cutting him off. Erwin laughs, moving back to his bed to begin gathering the bundles of socks that lay huddled near his pillow.

"The cleaning supplies are down the hall, third stock cupboard to your left." Erwin says, addressing the unspoken question that hung evidently in the air. He continues putting the socks away, in one of the smaller drawers, Levi observing silently.

"Or you could just stand there," Erwin muses, mostly to himself, but still loud enough for Levi to hear him. Rolling his eyes, Levi excuses himself, and heads for the cupboard Erwin directed him to.

Inside, he grabs all the cleaning supplies his arms can carry – and, well, that’s actually a lot. Picking the cleanest bucket off the shelf, he fills it with a folded up newspaper, the unopened packet of rags, a bottle of Duck and some Dettol wipes. On his way back out, he takes a Vax steam mop from its position against the wall, and treks back down to his room.

He’s thankful Erwin had the decency to stock up on all of these supplies before he’d arrived, but more than a little miffed he hadn’t got the microfiber rags. Though that was probably Levi’s own fault for bestowing such a crucial task to him – Erwin had probably passed the list onto Hanji, who really, should not be allowed to do any form of shopping.

Once in his room, Levi rests the mop against the door frame, placing the bucket beside it and unloading the items within, placing them in a neat alignment.

Levi starts with the windows.

But before he can begin, however, he rummages through his case for a plain white bandana, tying it securely around the top of his head – he as to keep his hair out of his face somehow, and using clips was, quite frankly, ridiculous.

Moving into see the large square one, and only window, he positions the now filled bucket down, careful as to not let a splash transcend over the rim.

Dipping a piece of scrunched up newspaper inside so that it's slightly damp, Levi begins to rub down the window.

It was an old trick; taught to him by his now late grandmother. "Wipe them down with a bit of damp newspaper," She'd croon, demonstrating as she did so, pointing with her hands and making overly large motions as she rubbed.

"Gets rid of all the dirt, and doesn't even leave a mark!" Giving a little giggle, she would finish her job on the windows and then move along to the mirrors. "Works wonders on these babies, too." She would say softly, giving Levi a small smile before batting down to work.

Sighing, Levi pauses in his wiping, checking to make sure that there are indeed no scuffs left. Non-miraculously, for his grandmother had never told him a single lie, not even a white one, there were no scuffs or markings on the window.

Giving it a small smile, he moves on to mirror above his (smaller than Erwin's) chest of drawers. 'Tsk'ing, Levi first gets a rag to try and collect some of the dust off.

He grows increasingly frustrated when it doesn't work; the cloth instead just pushing the dust around in a little clump, as though it were attempting to hide it from Levi's eyes by pressing it deep into the crevice between the mirror and the frame.

Growling, he throws the rag down with an almost violent nature, deciding to just work straight on it with the newspaper. He scrunches up a fresh sheet, idly noting the headline about something or other named 'False Widow' along with a rather gruesome picture of a bite mark, and then dips it lightly into the bucket.

When Levi can finally see his reflection in the mirror, he takes a good, long look at himself.

The dark shadows under his eyes are not as prominent as they had previously been, and he has Petra to thank for that. Petra and her purse of seemingly never ending cosmetics. (He really needs to learn the brand name, and then invest some of his savings into buying it. So far, it's proving to be worth the (Petra's) coin.)

 It also seems that this mirror is fond of flaunting every other flaw Levi has on his face. Maybe it's just the lighting of the room, but the small streak of even paler skin on his left cheek is incredibly visible, the scar a result of a many too many acts of kindness regarding stray cats. He wasn't sure whether it was a guttural instinct or not, but they always went for either the face or the wrists. He likes to think it was innate, that they are born with natural predator instincts for most, if not all, species of potential food.

On the opposite side of his face, below his lower lip and positioned just a half an inch from the very edge, where top lip vertexes with bottom lip, is a small indented dot from the years of his teen, where having a metal bar through the flesh seemed like a 'brilliant' idea. (It was, in actual fact, brilliant- Levi just had to remove it due to work circumstances. If he could get it redone, and not get fired, he would.)

There's no facial hair. Yet. Give it a couple more days, and the dark shades of stubble will be visible. But Levi will shave that off before it becomes too noticeable; he always does.

Never has he been one for sporting that apparent manly tradition that it is to look like a two legged bear. Never.

Underneath the bandana his hair is cut short, the black strands ending just below the top of his ear with a grey-ish undercut that spread the back of his head. Kind of like a bowl cut, really, except much more stylish. And nicer, much nicer to look at.

Padding over to his bed, he reaches into the inside pocket of his suitcase and pulls out two shoe shields, slipping them fluently over his white trainers.

It doesn’t take long to wash down the floor (it does, however, take quite a while to untangle the mess that the plug is in, and he knows _just knows_ that somehow Auruo used this before him, Levi _knows.)_ and soon Levi is left with nothing to do but sit on his bed, waiting for the floor to dry.

He has a meeting in an hour, and Levi heavily suspects Erwin is going to do something drastic when he announces his return. The thought kind of sickens him, but it’s to be expected.

When the dawning of the hour approaches, Levi neatly places his bookmark into the very corner of his book, and checking to make sure none of the pages are in danger of bending and creasing, snaps it shut, leaving it dumped in the middle of the suitcase as he climbs off the bed and heads toward the door.

He’s the first to arrive in the meeting room, beside Shadis and Pixis – between the two of them, they share the management role and warden purposes of Hospital Rose. Before anything can be done, even something as little as the rearranging of the furniture in the recreational rooms, it has to be okayed by those two first.

They both give him a brief nod of acknowledgement as Levi sits, resigned to wait for the rest of the staff to arrive so the meeting can start.

One by one the rest of the staff filter in; Petra being one of the small few that acknowledge Levi’s presence with a small smile or otherwise just as friendly gesture- Levi responds to none, of course.

“Now,” Erwin takes the floor, so to speak, as soon as he walks in. When he reaches his place at the table, he knocks the documents in his hands against the wood a couple of times, thus straightening them. “I’m sure all of you have noticed the return of our good friend Levi.” Levi scowls as he’s mentioned, and ignores the stares that are directed at him – though he notes, with great amusement, that many of them seem a little scornful. It was probably the ‘good friend’ comment; only Petra’s and Hanji’s glances seem earnest.

“He will be joining us again this year, though no longer as a trainee. As of three weeks ago today, Levi is a fully qualified nurse and so will be taking on a permanent position here at hospital Rose. I hope you’ll all treat as well as you did last year,”

“Let’s have a hand for him,” Pixis declares, beginning a slow clap that everyone eventually mimics. Hanji whistles, a sort of cat call that is a one of its kind, and it only makes Levi grind down harder onto his teeth.

 When the clapping dies down, Erwin clears his throat and speaks again, “Your shifts are virtually the same as they were last year. I have printed copies here for you all, up until December 25th. If there are any issues about these shifts, I expect you to work them out between yourselves with as little uproar as possible- is that clear?” When everyone nods, he distributes the sheets between the employees and takes his seat.

A quick glance confirms what Levi had thought, and starting tomorrow evening, he’s mainly doing night shifts with a couple of weekends and mornings.

“As I’m sure you are all aware,” Shadis is talking now, and Levi actively pays attention, because yeah, he kind of owes the man, kind of knows he wouldn’t be here without him (and Erwin). “Our sister hospital Maria has recently burnt down.

“Whilst the building did not sustain major structural damage, their entire residence wing was destroyed. It’s not safe for their staff and patients to remain there,” Shadis smiles, and it is too bright, too eager to be genuine. “And, well, hospitals are here to help, yes?” When there’s no response from the awaiting group, Shadis prompts them with another, firmer “Yes?”, raising a few murmurs of agreement out of the staff.

“So we shall be taking on a few of their patients. Not too many, a maximum of ten I believe. Hospital Sina will be taking the majority, though.”

“What about the staff members?” It’s the first time Petra’s spoke in the meeting, and Levi’s eyes automatically drift toward her. “Will they be coming as well? Since they can’t really work at a hospital without any patients or proper stability…” She trails off as Shadis begins shaking his head,

“Unfortunately, no. The staff will not be joining us.” Shadis lifts a hand in the air, signalling for all voices to stop – there had been an increasing amount of finicky natters. “I imagine you must be thinking that we will become understaffed, but that is not the case. Pixis and I have spent the last few days devising a strategy for all of this, and we have decided that the best course of action is to assign each one of you a small group – no more than three – of patients to look directly after.” Shadis sits, motioning for Pixis to hand out the stack of manila files in front of him.

He does so, sliding his fingers under the files to separate them into sections before moving around the table and depositing them where they need be. The files are of varying degrees of thickness, and Levi watches with jaded eyes as the pile dwindles until Pixis is left with just one file, which is placed gingerly in front of the man.

Levi steeples an eyebrow, but says nothing for the time being as he pulls the folder toward him. He notices everyone else is busy flicking through theirs – their _multiple_ folders, might he add.

“Any questions?” Shadis asks the staff, and there’s a collective murmur of ‘No, sir’ from those not really paying attention, from pretty much everyone but Levi himself.

“I have one,” Levi drawls out slowly, as he begins to flip through the rather thin document in his lap. “Why is it I only have one patient?” He lifts his stony gaze up to stare Shadis in the face then, more than a little offended. Shadis can tell by his eyes that it’s bothering Levi.

“This has nothing to do with your ability, Levi.” Shadis tells him, “But the patient we have assigned you to- is, ah, _tricky_ at best. His former doctor has left you several pages of notes to help you.”

“Just how tricky are we talking?” Levi asks, because really, it still hurts that they don’t think he’d be able to handle more than one shitty brat – that’s what they think, Levi knows it, no matter how much Shadis might deny it, how much Erwin might beg to differ, or Petra provide consoling explanations. That’s what they really think.

“They believe he was the person responsible for the fire in Maria.”

There’s a thick, undiluted silence in the air as the penny drops.

Levi lets out a small ‘Ah’ of recognition, finger tapping away at one of the pages in his file. “I see.”

“Not to put coal into the fire, but based on the fact that you’re newly qualified, and how much, ahem, _respect_ you managed to garner from those already here last year, we believe you’ll be the most… suited for this patient.” It’s Pixis addressing him now, and Levi nods, albeit stiffly.

He can understand that- sort of?

It’s true, though; last year, Levi had put into place even the patients Erwin himself had given up on (and everyone knew that if Erwin was to give up on somebody, then that was it. There were no further chances, no future hope.), and made semi-respectable humans out of them.

Semi, because, well, one can’t prune a rose too much without the stem wilting. And their job was to fix, to cater; not to break, demolish.

But Levi can’t deny that it’s a stab to his pride to be only given one patient. Two would have sufficed. But one- just one? That kind of stings.

Levi wants to glance down at the file again, to sit and immerse himself in the folder of this kid, but any hope of doing that is lost for the time being by Auruo voicing his opinion.

“Why on earth are we having a potential arsonist in our hospital?” Auruo growls, and God, Levi actually cannot stand the guy. “Why the hell couldn’t Sina have him, if they’re ‘taking the majority’?” He violently spits the last few words – or at least, would have done, had his teeth not clamped down on that saliva coated muscle in his mouth.

Levi turns his head away in disgust as blood dribbles down his chin, trying his best to ignore Petra fawning over him and the incomprehensible babbles leaving the still bloodied mouth. Filthy.

“Because, shithead, Hospital Sina would never take a patient as ‘tricky’ as a potential arsonist.” Levi still has his head turned away as he speaks, voice radiating disapproval, “They’d just dump him, make up some bogus story about him being too unruly or incontrollable, and like Shadis said before- _hospitals are here to help people.”_

That earns him a proud look from Shadis, an annoyingly optimistic one from Erwin- and Hanji just sighs, happily. The woman probably isn’t even paying attention anymore.

“Don’t think this is me accepting your decision, Shadis. I still think it’s a pretty shitty one.” Levi adds, turning his head to face Shadis. He has enough respect for that man to face him whilst addressing him.

“Language, Levi.” Shadis reprimands, though it’s lacking the scolding tone usually associated with it; he sounds as though pride is weaning its way into his voice. “You won’t be able to talk like that in front of the kid.”

“Of course not,” Levi mutters under his breath, low enough that none can hear. He suspects Shadis somehow had, though, or could at least guess something along the lines of it.

Levi tries to listen to the rest of the meeting, really he does, but the majority goes in one ear and then straight out the next. He’s too focused on thinking about what will happen next, what working with this kid is going to be like.

More than once he has to stop himself from just zoning out completely and beginning to look intently through the file, but he knows to do so in the middle of a meeting would be rude.

It’s only when the meeting is over, and he is walking beside Erwin, that Levi can properly focus his attention on the present moment.

“You should be honoured,” Erwin claps his shoulder as they return to their respective rooms, footsteps echoing down the otherwise silent corridor. “It’s rare for Pixis and Shadis to comment on one’s ability, you must have thoroughly impressed them last year. I mean, it’s one thing to get a job offer- but, to be so openly praised before you’ve even started working properly? That takes skill, Levi. A skill that you obviously possess.”

Levi hums noncommittally in response, realising they have now stopped outside of Erwin’s room. The blonde nods in departure, before opening his door and disappearing with a somewhat solemn “Goodnight, Levi.”

“’Night,” Levi mumbles in reply, continuing the solo walk back to his own room. He faintly hears the click of the lock on Erwin’s door, a tell-tale sign that he won’t be resurfacing until morning now.

Levi doesn’t sleep that night, tossing and turning in the covers, wrapping himself up like a cocoon before unleashing a wrath of limbs that sends the quilt spiralling.

He attempts to kid himself that it’s the fact that the room is so dirty, the uncleanliness is gnawing away at his mind and creating this inability to slumber, but really, it’s not.

He spent the best part of the entire day cleaning this room; it’s even cleaner than the house he left behind to move here.

So perhaps it’s just the unfamiliarity of the room. It’s new; he’s never slept here before, so his body and mind have reservations about his safety. That’s not right, either; in the past, he has had no problem sleeping in strange places at strange houses, so that can’t be the answer.

Maybe it’s because of this kid, Eren Jaeger, who’s supposed to be extremely unruly and would apparently make his life a living hell. Maybe it’s a safety aspect; what if someone had broken all the alarms in this place? What if the patients were running wild right now? What if they could escape, could get into these rooms, could physically do harm whilst he and the rest of the staff not on night shift, were asleep?

What if- what if, it was just because Levi couldn’t sleep?


	2. Waking Up at the Start of the End of the World

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Eren's first day at Hospital Rose, and he's stuck with eight other kids as they're brought into their new home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you know this got 15 subscribers, 16 kudos and over 400 hits for one chapter alone? that's pretty friggin' epic, thank you all so much! I hope this chapter doesn't disappoint~

****

The rumble of cracked tarmac and stones beneath the tyres is enough to keep everyone awake. Every now and then, the bus will lurch suddenly either left or right- most of the time, it is to avoid a pothole. Most of the time. Sometimes, when Eren would glance as disdainfully as possible without looking pretentious out of the window during one of said lurches, he would see nothing that required a dodging.

This would only make him grit his teeth in frustration, and cause his brow to furrow. He hates buses, always has, even from the days he and Mikasa would have to ride them to and fro on the school journey together, surrounded by other raucous kids, yelling and throwing objects and just being _kids._

The thought of Mikasa, his sister, his family, only serves to worsen his already disintegrating mood. He can no longer ride the bus to school with her, argue with her, complain to Mum about her. He can no longer see her sweet smile every day; berate her for just biting ice-lolls with a deafening crunch instead of licking and sucking the coldness out of them - seriously, who _does_ that? The ice is far, far too cold for human teeth to puncture.

He sighs, shifts in his seat and, when he hears the chink of his wrist restraint knock against the support pole beside his seat, is instantly reminded of the present- where he is, where he’s going, and of course, why he can no longer see Mikasa.

“This is just so stupid,” He growls not for the first time under his breath, fidgeting to get comfortable, and ending up in exactly the same position as before- elbow against the window frame, chin in hand, forehead pressed against the cool plastic. The window isn’t glass. Eren hasn’t seen a glass window in a long, long time. Almost as long as he hasn’t seen his mum. He wishes the window was open, if only just a crack, so a breeze could filter through and wash over him. But, no; safety precautions. Open windows are hazardous. To whom, Eren cannot be sure.

With one last lurch to the right, the bus is travelling along gravel, the wheels spinning and picking up stones and tossing them out just as fast. Occasionally, there is a small chip and then a little bump and Eren knows one of the stones has gotten lodged in the frame above the wheel. As satisfying as it is to know the bus has faults, it does nothing to quench his sour disposition.

Behind him, the back of his seat is knocked by feet, annoyingly so, and Eren knows Jean is doing it purposely to gyrate his nerves - of course Jean is, because Jean is a fucking asshole, but he’s an asshole not worth Eren’s temper anymore, not since yelling at him would only make the driver stomp on the brakes, would cause Armin to get a little upset.

So Eren bites his tongue and does nothing about it.

Turning smoothly around a water feature - a freakin’ _water feature_ , Hospital Maria didn’t even have a potted plant in the drive - Eren takes the opportunity to look at the building looming before them.

From this distance, Eren can’t tell if the windows are glass or plastic - but if the way the sun glints off them is any indication, he’d actually be tempted to say glass. But whether he’d be privy to those glass windows was another question entirely; that could, for all he knows, be the staff wing.

Eren has never been to Hospital Rose before, being quite content at Maria- but, duty calls, and now he finds himself here, sat inside a stationary bus that’s filled with chatter and words that don’t even resemble a language, let alone are understandable, with a group of kids he undeniably _cannot stand_.

Really, you could chop off a finger for each person inside this bus that Eren tolerates, and he’d still be able to function perfectly. Apparently.

From his position, they are seated in alphabetical order, Eren is almost midway down the bus, and he can clearly see there are two males stood before the entrance of the hospital. They both look tanned, and not entirely young, either. He knew Rose was an old hospital, having been around before Maria and constructed just after Sina was completed, but damn. He didn’t think the patrons were old, too.

One of the males, the paler one of the two, descends the stair case leading up to the double doors and knocks once on the doors of the bus. With a click, the doors are opened with the sound of gas escaping from a closed container filling the air. That’s another thing Eren hates about buses; they creak and groan and make unexplainable noises, noises that make him presume the worst and they’ve broken down and that he’s stuck with this lot for longer than necessary.

The man’s boots click against the floor as he enters the bus, and all noise inside quietens down as he looks at every single one of them - there are only seven teenagers on the bus, but he takes an extremely long time to give each person a one over.

There’s a clipboard clutched loosely in one hand, the contents of which Eren presumes contains detailed information about all of them. Idly, he wonders what his says, who wrote it. He could hazard a good guess, if he had to.

When the eyes fall onto Eren, Eren scowls but refuses to look away, not going to give this man the satisfaction of beating him before he’s even set foot inside. With a small quirk to his lips, he moves onto the people behind Eren, before beginning to speak.

“Good afternoon, children.” No one says anything at the ‘children’ moniker, even though plenty are thinking it, and Eren watches him intently as he speaks. His eyes seem to flicker, with a light that Eren cannot pinpoint to an emotion- he’d never been as good as reading people as Mikasa. He’d never been as good as Mikasa, period. Though it is clear he is speaking, for they can all hear the clarity of his words, the unwavering tone of his voice, they cannot see his mouth move. It is cloaked by a silver veil of a moustache, but there is no beard beneath it. It’s just that long that it covers both top and bottom lip.

“Welcome to Hospital Rose. I am director Dot Pixis, and behind me is my colleague Keith Shadis. We share the managerial roles of this hospital.” By ‘behind’, he means the guy still stood in front of the entrance, not having moved an inch. As still as a boulder even in the highest of winds. “Structure wise, we are not that differently composed. I should not take you very long to familiarise yourself with the building and all that is inside.

“Regarding your treatment, do not expect anything special just because you are new, homeless and ‘fresh’. You will be treated no different to anyone else by both our staff and current residents - although, for precautionary reasons, your interaction with them shall be limited. I can only hope you will settle down fast, and enjoy your time here. The current length of your stay is at the moment unknown, so for the time being, feel free to assume it permanent.”

Pixis pauses, giving each person another look. “Once you’re unloaded from here, you are to stand in front of Shadis. When you’re all assembled, we’re going to go inside and introduce you to everyone else.” Another pause, in which Pixis brings up the clipboard to his eye sight and takes a look before flipping a page over. “Arlert, Armin!” He barks, and this is instruction enough for the bus driver - who is, Eren realises as he sees the face properly for the first time, one of the nurses from Maria.

Standing up for the first time their journey, he doesn’t move very far to Armin’s seat, taking out a key and unlocking the handcuff that kept him bound to the support pole. Eren acknowledges the somewhat helpless look Armin throws his way with a small, encouraging nod, and Armin seems to sober up, stepping past Pixis and off the bus, walking steadily toward where Shadis is waiting.

“Braun, Reiner!” Reiner is a blond haired boy who leaves the bus with quiet steps, and Eren is certain he doesn’t imagine the discomforted gesture produced by Bertholdt’s body as Reiner passes him. The two boys are barely apart, and Eren isn’t sure whether this developed inside the institution or out - if it _was_ outside, though, then the hospital has done a pretty crappy job of curing them both. For as long as Eren has been there those two have, never separate, always together.

“Braus, Sasha!” It’s the brown haired girl that’s always eating, or always yearning for some kind of food, and yet never appears to gain weight- Eren doesn’t know the explicit details of her condition, for he has never asked, but he knows it’s something to do with food. It can’t be anorexia, but then again, he’s just a teenager - he doesn’t have anorexia, couldn’t tell someone what the signs or symptoms of such a disease were.

As she’s unbuckled in turn, jumping up with a spring in her step and a delighted whoop, there’s a rustle as something falls out from underneath her shirt. The remaining six teenagers aren’t surprised by this in the least, but Eren can see the driver is more than a little ticked off. “I told you,” He hisses, grabbing Sasha’s arm as she bends to hastily pick it up, “no eating on my bus!” He yells the last part of his sentence, and Eren notices that Pixis doesn’t look as though he is going to intervene.

“I’m sorry!” Sasha squeaks, somehow breaking his grip with a simple twist and scattering off the bus, “but I was just so hungry!” They all hear her whine as she hurriedly tries to catch up with Armin, and they know, just know, she wasn’t sorry at all.

If anything, Pixis seems only a little amused by the scenario. “Teenagers,” he mutters fondly, before carrying on with his register.

“Fubar, Bertholdt!” Bertholdt’s relief is tangible, felt in the air by everyone. The quietest of the two boys, and the tallest person of their entire ensemble, Bertholdt has a kind face. He smiles a lot, especially in the company of Reiner - which is always, so he pretty much just smiles a lot.

He’s fast to join his companion, leaping out of his seat as soon as he’s free and jogging the short distance between them. Reiner stops to wait for him, and then the two carry on a little more forward, pausing just behind Armin.

“Jaeger, Eren!” At long last, his name is called out. Eren stands up, waiting as his wrist is unshackled from the support pole, and makes his way to the front of the bus.

The teenagers behind him have gone ghostly silent (he can’t even hear their wrist restraints chinking anymore) and it darkens Eren’s face as he steps down the steps, ignoring the small quirk of a smile from Pixis. “That’s me,” Eren mutters dutifully, before clenching his fists and almost stomping out.

As soon as he’s out, he heads to Armin’s side. Sasha is off to the side, clutching her stomach and whining about hoping there’s good food inside or something, Eren doesn’t particularly pay attention to her anymore.

“Hey,” he greets quietly, giving him a nod. Armin turns to look at Eren, eyes sharp.

“Hey yourself.” Armin almost spits, before turning away. Eren holds back a sigh, not wanting to start an argument so soon after their arrival. His personality has done a complete one-eighty from the fragile looking boy who had so helplessly stepped off the bus first.

In the distance, he hears Pixis call out name after name, picking up the pace a little more now. “Kirstein, Jean!” Jean comes and joins them, standing the other side of Armin. He has a face like a horse, and it makes Eren snicker. He receives a dirty look from said horse-faced man, and it only causes Eren to laugh harder. That is, until a sharp jab to his rib cage is received.

Eren doubles over slightly, inhaling a sharp gasp before coughing a little bit. He glares weakly at Armin’s glowering face, before giving up altogether. Worth it, though, if he was going to be honest.

“Leonhardt, Annie!” Annie is the third and final piece to Reiner and Bertholdt’s companionship, the shortest and most disinterested of the lot. She’s a frequent non-carer, her blue eyes showing no amount of interest or appreciation.

Occasionally, there’ll be a spark- and, well, Eren’s maybe just a little happy when there is. She’s actually one of the people he can tolerate, and as out of place as it may be, she does have a nice sense of humour- when she can be bothered to speak up or even join the rest of them in their group sessions, that is. He stares at her unabashedly as she joins her friends; she notices, but doesn’t acknowledge or retaliate.

“Springer, Connie!” Connie is the last of the males to be released, his cheer of joy on equilibrium with Sasha’s. He trots down the steps, before breaking into a flat out sprint as he races up to Sasha. She meets him halfway, the pair embracing as though they were long lost lovers on a beach after a gruelling argument in the rain.

They’re not, of course; Eren (nor anybody else) knows not what they are, except two excitable little puppies that complement each other as well as mint and chocolate.

“Ymir!” Ymir is the last name to be called out, and Eren watches as she stomps a little resentfully off the bus, lingering behind the crowd as Pixis over takes her to re-join Shadis on the steps.

Even being so far in front, Eren can hear the distinct pressurised sound of the bus doors shutting, the rumble of the engine as it spurs into life. It drives off, the echo of the gravel crunching under the tyres growing ever distant until it is heard no more.

In the following silence as Pixis makes his way up the steps, Eren can hear brief spells from the conversation leaving the trio behind’s mouths.

“One of us here is the third wheel,” Annie glances through narrowed eyes at the boys either side of her, both quite a head taller than her. “And I get the distinct impression it might be me.”

A quick, horrified glance passes between the two boys, before they’re sent reeling away from one another. “We’re not gay!” They protest simultaneously, and the rapid outrage is almost too fast to be believable.

“Okay,” Annie says, though there is no sincerity behind her words whatsoever.

“We’re not!” Reiner states again, indignant.

“I said okay.” She repeats.

“Let it go,” Bertholdt mutters, just as Reiner is about to dispute her again, giving him a quick glare that seems to lack any venom over the top of Annie’s hair. She’s looking forward now, at the building in front of them.

Eren wants to laugh, because that is quite possibly the greatest thing he has heard all day, yet he knows it would be disrespectful of him to- who dates who in that trio is none of Eren’s business, after all. Even if Bertholdt and Reiner apparently not knowing about the rumours that circulate them and their sexuality is single-handedly brilliant, and it shows just how much they don’t pay attention to gossip. (It also shows how much Eren _does._ )

Now beside Shadis, Pixis clears his throat. “If you would all follow Shadis now,” Shadis turns without a word and throws the doors open in what could have been a grandiose gesture, Eren isn’t completely sure, “We’ll give you the ‘tour’ as it may be.”

One by one the group filter through the doors, Ymir trailing just ahead of Pixis as he shuts the doors behind them, locking them with a definite click that repeats over and over as each lock is individually sealed tight.

The group are silent, and to Eren, it feels as though his last piece of freedom has just been locked away. The reception they are now in is void of any natural light, a chandelier hanging high above their heads emitting the only source of brightness.

They follow Shadis as a herd, Pixis rounding up the rear, through several security protocols - each person is vetted for weapons, for metal objects, for shoelaces and belts and any likewise object.

“Later on,” Shadis announces and it is the first time any of them have heard him speak, “You shall all be given a thorough examination by our on sight medical staff. If any of you are afraid of needles, it would be wise to speak up now.” Shadis glances back at them, his eyes made dark by the shading surrounding them. Whether it’s a trick of the light or not, Eren cannot be sure.

No one says anything, not even a murmur. Shadis smirks as he faces forward again, leading them through a corridor with metal gating on either side. It’s a thin corridor, no more than a single door’s width, joined at each end by doors that look to be air tight and require both the swipe of an identification card and the input of a seven digit code.

A small light overhead flashes green for an average of two seconds as the code and code are verified, before a beeping noise announces the unlocked state of the door. The doors only open one way, requiring them to be pushed.

After an endless amount of similar operating doors and vaguely familiar corridors, and then two further flights of stairs, the herd arrives to a set of double doors.

“This is your residency wing. The entire floor and the gardens adjoined belong to you.” Shadis states, standing before the doors. “In here you will eat, sleep, drink and attend group therapy and single therapy sessions. You will socialise here, you will fight and make up here, and you will live, quite possibly, the rest of your lives here.

“When you go through these doors, you will be immediately inserted into one of said group therapy sessions. You will be introduced to the doctors and nurses overseeing your stay here. You will be shown around the floor, taken to your assigned rooms. We have taken the liberty of moving what personal belongings you had left into your new rooms for you, so be grateful. This is where we part.

“Welcome, to Hospital Rose.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eren's personality kind of eludes me, I know I have to work on how I portray him , sorry!! (Also I have never been in a hospital like this before so details are going to be wrong but I'm trying my best)


	3. I Think It Turned Ten O'clock But I Don't Really Know

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What Levi receives, when the group leader (Marco, Levi thinks is his name – there’s a name tag pinned to the freckled boy, just like there is to Levi, but he doesn’t particularly want to stare at the guys chest just to find out what it says. His vision is already a little blurry from what he presumes is lack of sleep, so he doesn’t want to strain it further by squinting to try and read a colleague’s name tag.) introduces them all, is, in effect, a puppy.
> 
> An excitable puppy with a nipping nature, one that yaps too loudly on occasion- a terrier; a typical terrier.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm actually scared to post this chapter because i think the characterisation is terrible, also this turned out way way longer than planned
> 
> (And the amount of positive responses this has gotten is incredible thank you all so much, and I hope this instalment doesn't turn you off :3 )

****

Even though Levi’s shift doesn’t technically start until six PM this evening, he’s still required to be there in the morning when the new arrivals take their first primitive steps into the institute.

He has to be there for the group therapy session, to get to know his patient, to show the kid around.

He doesn’t, however, have to like it. He sighs for what seems like the millionth time that morning as he once again flicks through the file on the desk.

He’d spent the good part of three hours last night combing through every detail of the file, learning everything he could about the kid from what the notes suggested.

First off, his name? Eren Jaeger.

Second, his age? Sixteen.

Third, his reason for being hospitalised? Excessive anger and violence. Plus an added bout of potential pyromania.

Levi doesn’t entirely know what to think, because if everything inside the file is to be believed, then Levi would surely be up and out of here by the end of the week.

Levi doesn’t have a photo, nor a physical description of the kid. He’s expecting some kind of rough, tough talking guy. Perhaps with a shaved head, semi-buff with a couple of muscle still visible – he probably worked out by using the scrawny kids as weights.

He’d seen that done before, in a movie once. He can’t, for the life of him, remember which movie it was, though. He’s tempted to say that it involved the Rock, but there’s a huge (almost 100%) possibility that it didn’t, so he’s not going to bet on it or anything.

This imagined vision, however, is not what he gets when he walks into the meeting. There are no guys at all like the ones he imagined earlier – there are a couple of scrawny ones, but even they don’t look entirely weak.

What Levi receives, when the group leader (Marco, Levi thinks is his name – there’s a name tag pinned to the freckled boy, just like there is to Levi, but he doesn’t particularly want to stare at the guys chest just to find out what it says. His vision is already a little blurry from what he presumes is lack of sleep, so he doesn’t want to strain it further by squinting to try and read a colleague’s name tag.) introduces them all, is, in effect, a puppy.

An excitable puppy with a nipping nature, one that yaps too loudly on occasion- a terrier; a typical terrier.

This doesn’t please Levi all too well, as he is, primarily, a cat person. He prefers the elegant structure of a feline, their ability to climb into the most ridiculous of places and stay there, despite how uncomfortable it must be.

He prefers them, even if they do have an incredibly agonising habit of stroking his face with their adorably sharp claws. It’s so endearing, to an almost glistening level.

Whilst Marco introduces every member of silent and stern looking staff standing around the circle, Levi does nothing but stare at the kid. He’s aware it’s unnerving, but he isn’t going to back down. Eren keeps fidgeting, trying not to stare back. The blonde by his side doesn’t have the same restraint, and regularly looks back and forth between Levi and Eren, sometimes whispering to the latter.

Marco begins splitting them up into the groups with their mentors, explaining: “You’re all assigned to a staff member. Spend a couple minutes talking with them now, and then Dr. Hanji is going to come and call you in to her office. It shouldn’t take too long.” He smiles, the freckles on his face seeming to light up his eyes.

“Armin, you’re going to be with Erwin.” Armin is the blonde, Levi realises, and Eren has to work a little to get him to move. He does, taking his chair with him over to a corner of the room with Erwin.

“Reiner, Bertholdt, Annie, go with Auruo, please.” The trio move in synch, each picking up their respective chairs and following Auruo to his domain – which was near the wall, beside a potted plant.

Levi would sacrifice the lives of the felines he adopted as a youth for that potted plant to somehow levitate and empty its soil all over Auruo, but then someone (him, probably, as the only way that plant was going to levitate was if he picked it up and threw it Auruo’s fucking face.) would have to clean up said soil.

“Sasha, Connie – with Petra.” Petra smiles at them and waves them over, the two teens joking about and laughing with each other as they move toward Petra. Levi’s not sure how Petra is going to cope with Sasha.

It’s not that Levi believes her to be a troublesome girl, quite the opposite in fact, it’s just that she seems to have this compulsory habit of eating. Marci had to tell her three times to stop eating during the meeting, Erwin confiscating a different food off her each time. Levi couldn’t even figure out where she _kept_ it, let alone where she was even _getting_ it from.

He will not be entirely surprised, he decides, if she’s somehow managed to bribe the kitchen staff to give her extras or seconds or even the scraps by the end of the week. She just seems like that kind of girl.

“Eren, Levi’s going to be working with you.” Levi notices how Eren seems to be the only patient required ‘work’. He also notices, when he makes his way over to Eren, just how many people are staring at them. It doesn’t bother him, though. In a place like this you get used to staring pretty fast.

“Don’t move.” Levi mutters, hand coming down onto the back of Eren’s chair. “Let everyone else do that, we can stay here.”

“O-okay,” Eren’s voice is untrusting, a little shaky, but also interested. His eyes are peering up at Levi, and they remain their curiosity even when Levi’s own eyes narrow, if losing a bit of their sharpness.

“Ymir, your nurse is going to be Crista. And Jean, you’re with me.” Just as Levi had said, everyone else moves around the spacious room, keeping a good distance between each group and leaving Eren and Levi in the centre. With the exception of Jean and Marco, though who go quite close to Erwin and Armin and seem to gravitate closer as the time goes on.

“How are you finding the hospital so far?” Levi bluntly starts, as though this is a round of 20 questions. He moves around so he is now facing him. Eren looks a little dumbstruck for a moment, before frowning.

“I’ve only just arrived. I can’t have an opinion on that yet, sir.” He mutters.

“Don’t call me sir.” Levi almost snaps, but he doesn’t want to go into detail with the kid as to why. Something passes over the kid’s face, and Levi realises with a sigh that it’s a troubled look. “What’s bothering you?” He asks, as though it’s burden to.

“Aren’t you going to sit down?” Eren motions with his head to a vacant chair just behind Levi. Levi looks, because he hadn’t actually noticed the chair, but shakes his head.

“No, I’d prefer to stand.” He pulls the chair closer, anyway, in case he changes his mind. He’s not sure how long Hanji is going to take with these individual assessments, fully aware of how much the eccentric doctor likes to roll off on a tangent. “There’s something else.”

“…Are you really a nurse here? I mean, you’re really short.” Levi’s gaze hardens, and he is delighted when Eren shrinks into himself a little.

“Do you think my height has an impact on my job? Do you think it affects the way I operate? How I go about my daily life?”

“W-well,” The kid stutters, as though he’s rethinking asking that question – the regret washes over his face like a tidal wave, “I just thought that- you know, the patients are much taller than you- a little intimidated, maybe- what if they- uh, well- what if there;s a shelf you can’t reach?” The last part is blurted out, and even more regret appears before being replaced by fear, shock and then- resignation.

Levi inches his face closer, until they’re mere centimetres apart. “Do you know what I do when there’s something on a shelf I can’t reach?” He questions harshly, almost a hiss. “ _I use a fucking stool.”_ Eren flinches at that last part, and Levi idly wonders if he may have possibly gone over the top just a bit there. _No,_ he thinks, _I haven’t._

He draws back then, completely alert to how silent the room has become. And just how red Eren’s face is. He doesn’t notice, however, Hanji stood patiently behind him.

“I thought I was playing the bad cop.” She whines, making Levi jump a little. He tries to hide it, but doesn’t know whether he was successful or not. He scowls at her, and she only grins in response. “It’s time for Eren’s check up!” She almost sing-songs, beckoning the kid to follow her as she walks off.

“Go.” Levi states, taking a seat on the chair, intent on waiting for him to return. The noise in the room gradually picks up again, until it was as though it had never been silent.

It takes an obscene amount of time for Hanji to return, Eren in tow. She has no order for abducting the patients either, (yes, Levi was sure it classified as abduction, especially when performed by Hanji), as Levi finds out that Eren was the first to go.

“Everything okay?” He asks as Eren almost collapses into the chair.

“I’m not a big fan of needles.” He huffs, rubbing his arm almost subconsciously. _Ah, right, blood tests._

“Did you bite her?” Levi murmurs, looking for any visible inclinations of stress- nail biting, scratching, hair tugging- that kind of thing. He’s relived to find none, and amused at how horrified Eren looks at the prospect of biting his doctor.

“N-no!” He splutters, and Levi sighs, as if crest fallen.

“Shame. I was hoping someone would.”

“Well maybe someone will!” Eren’s voice is a little snappy when he says that, the volume risen from what it was before. Levi sits back in his seat slightly, observing as Eren grits his teeth and attempts to glare at Levi.

“Maybe.” Levi drawls out, tone neutral. “Do you think you’re going to like it here?”

The question throws Eren off, as he wasn’t at all prepared for it. “I-I don’t know. Possibly?”

“Yes or no, Eren.”

“Uh, yes?” Levi nods, despite knowing the kid wasn’t confident at all in his answer. He was going to have to like Rose sooner or later, anyway.

“Good. I’m going to take my leave, now. I’ll be back around six, which is your dinner time. Don’t screw up anything whilst I’m gone.” Eren looks a little offended at the suggestion of him screwing anything up, but doesn’t retaliate.

Levi stands and exits the room, and notes that he is followed swiftly by Erwin.

“Where are you headed, Levi?” Erwin asks, shutting the door behind them.

“Back to my room so I can catch up on some sleep before my shift starts.”

“Ah, sorry, but you’re not allowed.” Erwin pauses as Levi raises an eyebrow, “You’re required to stay for the full first day with your patient, regardless of the shift you are working.”

“You’re kidding me.” Levi states, giving Erwin a hard stare. The man has the nerve to chuckle, which only serves to harden Levi’s stare.

“Sorry, I guess I should have mentioned that in the meeting yesterday. I forgot you didn’t spend the beginning of the year with us last time. But, yes, you’re required to spend the full first day with him. It’s usually not a problem for the workers, but you are on the night shift, and we can’t make exceptions… Sorry, Levi.”

Levi groans a little bit, but he guesses it’s understandable. The patients have to be made welcome and a new environment is bound to set off some sparks. “Alright,” he concedes, uncrossing his arms.

Erwin smiles at him, a little relieved. “Well, as they say: the first day is always the hardest!” He announces, giving Levi a reassuring knock on the shoulder before turning and returning to the recreational room, to that blonde kid (Levi has already forgotten his name) who had seemed so close to Eren.

Levi doesn’t know who ‘they’ are, but he does know the popularity of their phrase. Although, he’s also pretty sure that saying was invented for weight loss – and this scenario right here? That’s a little different to weight loss.

“You’re back?” Eren seems surprised as Levi once again sits opposite him.

“Apparently I have to stay with you all day. Erwin missed that detail out in the meeting yesterday.”

“Huh.” They don’t really speak after that. Levi doesn’t want to dominate the conversation, as he doesn’t feel that’s the best way to make progress. Eren’s either too shy to speak himself, or is waiting for some kind of permission. If the looks appearing on his face are anything to go by, Levi would say it is the former.

It seems that they are the only two in the room not talking. All around, he can hear the mingled voices of staff and patients, some laughing, some wailing and others crunching food – no idea who that may be, though. It’s mostly muffled sounds, though, each group trying to allow each other group the chance to hear themselves talk and think.

Levi hears the not so muffled laughter from the corner of the room then, over where Marco is sitting with the two males and Erwin- Erwin who sports a semi-disapproving stare. He hadn’t heard what was said, but if he can judge by the way Eren’s shoulders seem to freeze and his body tense, he would assume Eren had and that it was something about his patient.

He says nothing, though, wanting to know how Eren will react in a situation like this, wonders if his reputation precedes him or if he really is an insufferable brat. (He didn’t think so, Eren hadn’t done anything disputable yet.)

“Why don’t you come and say that to my face, you goddamn equine?!” Eren yells, turning abruptly to face the kid in the corner.

The kid’s face- Jean is his name, Levi suddenly remembers- falls for a second before coming almost as aggressive as Eren’s. Almost, because Eren has transformed from a puppy into a hostile little Alsatian, barking as loud as he can.

“What did you call me, ass hole?” Jean replies, standing up. Erwin goes to block him, angling his body so that no advance could be made by the two toned hair kid.

Levi doesn’t do that to Eren, though, and watches as Eren tries to glance discreetly at him.

And then Eren launches, all limbs and scrambling toward Jean. The little blonde looking runt who had practically been glued to Eren’s side during the meeting, is attempting to call Eren off with some words, mentioning about a Mikasa or cassette or something, Levi can’t really hear over Eren’s yelling but knows whatever it is that the blonde is saying is utterly futile.

So instead of allowing Eren to effectively maul the other kid, (yes, maul- there was absolutely no grace to Eren’s actions at all, absolutely none.), he grabs Eren around the waist and hauls him away. “Cooler.” He says frankly, giving a curt nod to Erwin before slinging Eren over his shoulder and marching off.

He deposits Eren in a room down the hall, the boy quickly settling down on top a beanbag.

The ‘Cooler’ is a sort of detention room for those patients that need to be isolated.

It’s bare, with a linoleum floor that shines much brighter than the other rooms due to its usage being infrequent. As a sort of general rule of thumb, patients don’t really spend more than a day in here – it all depends on what they’ve been isolated for, and what their doctor believes would benefit them the most.

It’s usually a couple of hours.

There is more than one beanbag in the room, each a different colour. Levi counts seven, and then sees they’re the seven colours of the rainbow. How typical; he wonders if this decorating had been Crista’s idea. Eren is almost lying down on top of the green beanbag.

“How come you haven’t taken me to my room?” He huffs, attempting to glare at Levi. Levi could snort at the double entendre to those words, but alas, doing so would be extremely unprofessional, so he refrains.

“You’re being sanctioned,” Levi answers, “Sanctioned people go to the Cooler. It seems, Eren, that we are going to have to go over some ground rules.”

“Rules?” Eren echoes, a little frown crinkling his brow. “I thought Shadis covered those already.”

“Oh he did,” Levi assures the kid, “But these are my personal rules.” Levi moves forward a bit so he is standing directly over Eren, holding his gaze.

“One; you will touch nothing that is a possession of mine. That includes my clothes, shoes, whatever.”

Eren snorts, “That’s a dumb rule you just practically carried me the whole way here- you can’t carry someone unless you’re touching them.”

Levi glares, and will not deny that he feels a little satisfied to see Eren squirm underneath it, “Nor will you talk back to me.” He continues regardless of the interruption, “You will not cause any trouble- and that includes antagonising other patients by calling them horse face.” Eren opens his mouth to protest, but is cut off by Levi.

“I do not want to be spending every single day visiting you here, or hauling your ass off somebody. Is that clear?”

Eren nods, mumbling a quick affirmative.

“Participation in these group sessions are mandatory, as are inspections by Doctor Hanji, whom I am presuming is allowing you to call her Hanji- yes?” Eren nods again, apparently too scared to speak.

Levi doesn’t say anything after that, and Eren must think he is finished, because he jokes, “What, do you have these rules in a book or something?” and then proceeds to make himself laugh.

Levi stares straight at him as he answers, “Yes. I also have a document for you to sign contained within that book, in which dictates that you will hereby adhere to every single rule and breakage of said rules results in extended sanction and limited social interaction, which, incidentally, includes external visitors.”

Eren’s mouth is gaping slightly by the end of his sentence, as though he can’t quite figure out if Levi is telling the truth or not.

Levi is, but he decides that maybe initiating a change of topic would fare well with the boy.

“Jaeger- that’s German, right?” Levi asks Eren,

“Yeah.” Is the small response he receives.

“Interesting. Eren Hunter.” The sound of his last name being translated seems to straighten Eren’s back a little, and he looks up at Levi with honest curiosity shining in his eyes.

That’s the one thing he’s noticed about Eren in this short time- he’s useless at hiding his emotions. He would say an open book, but that’s just too cliché and not even correct. Open books would be considered difficult when compared to Eren, it’s like his face has no filter toward emotions.

As soon as he feels it, it’s out there for the world to see.

“Can you speak German, then?” And there’s curiosity in his voice too, maybe even a note of hopefulness. Levi ignores the question, sitting down on the blue beanbag beside Eren. He doesn’t want to pry, but it has intrigued him. He wants to know what he can get away with saying, what sparks Eren’s anger. That Jean kid does, apparently, and Levi is maybe just a little sour that he doesn’t know the intimate details of their rivalry.

“So tell me about you and the blonde kid.” Is how Levi starts, pretending to inspect his nails. The key here is to not seem too interested, to allow Eren to answer at any pace or no pace at all.

“Armin.” Eren automatically corrects the name, as if he doesn’t like the boy being referred to as ‘the blonde kid’. Levi also wonders about that, and then: “He’s my best friend.”

Levi makes a noncommittal noise to show he heard, inclining for Eren to continue talking.

“We’ve been here for almost the same length of time- though I arrived first, I think. I don’t know, there’s not much to tell really, sometimes we get on and sometimes our personalities clash- not very often, though. Armin doesn’t like getting angry, it reminds him off his granddad or something.” Eren shrugs, and it signals the end of that.

“What about Jean?” Levi asks next, knowing he would have to mention the boy sooner or later. Rather sooner than later, he supposes. Blow the fuse before it detonates, or some equally poetic crap.

Eren’s eyes narrow at the aforementioned horse face, and he sits up a tiny bit straighter, now seemingly cautious.

“Are you psycho analysing me?” He probes, sniffing around the subject.

“No, that’s the job of Hanji and her team. I am here to provide you with assistance and guidance.”

Jean is apparently what sparks Eren’s anger, how far the boy is willing to converse, so Levi doesn’t steer the conversation anymore, and Eren doesn’t say anything else.

They sit in silence for the remainder of their time in the cooler, with Levi mentally inspecting the condition of this room and making a note to request that Petra or someone – _not_ Auruo, because the guy can’t clean for shit – take a look at it and validate his fears that, no, this room hasn’t been cleaned in a very long time despite it’s apparent clean look.

When Levi deems that the kid has served his time, and has marginally cooled down, he stands up and beckons Eren with him.

“Come on,” He says briskly, turning and opening the door with a swipe of his card.

The doors to this room don’t necessarily have to be locked; it’s only required that they are when they are in use. Otherwise, it’s just part of the free for all that is the residency wing.

Levi leaves the room, Eren in tow. He slows his pace a little, allowing Eren the chance to walk beside him.

The floor is deserted now, and Eren idly wonders where everybody went. He doesn’t voice this, though, instead dutifully walking in silence beside Levi. He’s done enough talking, he thinks.

“I can take you to the canteen area to get some food, and then it’s straight to your room for the night.” Levi states at they draw nearer the end of their path.

Eren looks a little surprised. “Already?” He glances at the electronic clock on the wall, and his voice sounds a little puzzled when he says: “But it’s only ten.” Levi glances at him through the corner of his eye,

“Brats go to bed at ten. Now do you want food?”

Eren shakes his head, “Not hungry.” He mutters.

Levi frowns, “You won’t be able to have any until morning, now.” Eren only shrugs.

Sighing, but otherwise saying nothing on the matter, Levi begins leading Eren to his room.

“Your personal belongings have already been placed inside. The code for your door is 7938.” Levi indicates to a small number pad on the side of the door. “These doors only have four digits so access can be faster. They don’t lock automatically, so remember that. You have to punch the code in on the inside to unlock it as well, although every door gets locked at ten PM and then unlocked at eight AM for breakfast.

“You can leave it unlocked during the day if you would prefer, but it’s not advised unless you like having people visit you and spent time in your room unsupervised. Every time the door gets unlocked is monitored, so if you attempt to unlock your door during the night, it will be recorded. There is an emergency help button, which is only for emergencies. Misuse it and you will be punished. The rule book explains what constitutes as an emergency.

“You are also not advised to tell anybody your unique room code. The only people who know this are you and I, and the computer that generated it. You see these cards here?” Levi grabs at the ID card around his neck, pulling it over his head.

“They open every door in this place, including the ones to your rooms. The only difference is between this door and all the others, is that access to your room does not require the input of the code.”

Levi swipes the card to demonstrate, and with a small beep the light flashes green and the door unlocks, opening.

“This will serve as an explanation as to why Hanji might suddenly appear in your room in the middle of the night. She seemed to take a shine to you.”

Eren grows a little pale at that, the terror clear on his face. Levi then says, with an entirely serious face, “I would check your body every morning for abnormalities. You may never know when she strikes.”

Eren’s fear is genuine now; Levi can see it in his eyes. He isn’t saint enough to tell the kid that he’s only joking, that Hanji wouldn’t actually do anything to Eren without his explicit permission- or some variant of permission. But since they’ve only had one session together, Levi is pretty confident that Eren hasn’t done or said anything that could result in Hanji taking action.

He severely hopes, anyway.

He ushers Eren into his room, listening to make sure it locks. It does, and so Levi leaves- but takes a detour into the canteen.

 _Not hungry my ass,_ Levi thinks, heading back to Eren’s room. _The kid just didn’t want inconvenience me._ He snorts, before knocking three times on the door.

“Eren,” He calls, sliding his card down the slot to open the door. Eren is sitting on his bed, clad in pyjamas made up of a green tunic and some brown three quarter lengths. He looks like a medieval version of Shaggy, Levi thinks.

Levi holds up the apple with a flat palm, the redness of the skin shining under the lights inside Eren’s room. His palm curls around it, and he tosses it to Eren, who easily catches it.

With a silent and almost evaluating look at the boy, Levi then turns heel and parts with the words “Der Junge ist ein Kind und er isst einen Apfel,” locking the door behind him.

“Ja,” Eren murmurs with a soft smile, too stunned to do anything but turn the apple over in his hands. “das tut er.” He confirms, taking a bite and crunching down on the flesh.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i also promise this story won't turn into an excuse for me to practice my crappy German & thank you to Mii for correcting the sentence ^.^
> 
>  
> 
> _("The boy is a child, and he is eating an apple.")_
> 
> And if no one one appreciates my LEVItating joke I am going to be extremely angry.


	4. Expectation is the Root of all Heartache.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> {This is actually pretty important}.

I had such high hopes for this piece.

So, hey, it's been a while. I honestly don't know what happened. I'm sorry.

Do you want good news or bad news? (That's a trick question, you're getting both.)

First of all, I  **do** plan on continuing/finishing this piece, without a doubt.

Second, I have exams in 5 weeks time and I'm going to fail 80% of them because I suck and don't revise like I should.

That being said, it's Easter next week, and I've devised a plan; two hours of each subject Mon-Fri, which gives me Sat & Sun to rest.

And by rest, I mean work on this derailed train.

Specifically, I'm going to modify the first few chapters I have posted, and then work on an official plan for the fic.

As of yet, I don't know if I am going to delete this whole fic and then re-post it once I've sorted out where I'm going and what I'm doing with it etc. or, if I'm just going to delete this note and continue posting from here. I don't know, but I guess you'll find out soon enough.

I hope to see you all on the other side, regardless!

\- Paige


End file.
